The manager at the London bar where Travis and Jason Kelce shot their special New Heights episode this week revealed she was standing with a cutout of Taylor Swift when the Chiefs tight end arrived at the establishment.
The Kelce’s recorded the episode from Passyunk Avenue, a Philadelphia-inspired dive bar in the heart of central London, while in town for Swift’s Eras Tour shows at Wembley Stadium.
Speaking to PEOPLE, manager Jessi Riley detailed her first interaction with Travis.
We were having a ‘Swiftie Party’ later that day and it was extra funny because I was setting up the cardboard cut out of Taylor Swift as Travis walked in,’ said Riley.
‘I kind of said: ‘Sorry about the girlfriend, we’re having a Taylor Swift afterparty tonight.’ He said: ‘As am I.’ He was a bit early, so I wasn’t expecting him for another 45 minutes, so there I was standing with his girlfriend!’
Riley also revealed that the three-time Super Bowl champion ordered a beer and a cheesesteak as soon as he arrived.
The manager later detailed how Jason was warm from the moment they met.
‘[He] felt like a face I already knew,’ Riley shared. ‘He walked in and gave me a big bear hug around the shoulders and it just felt normal.’
Riley would appear on the episode while she served the Kelces traditional British cuisine – including a full English breakfast and afternoon tea.
Additionally, bar owner and Philadelphia native JP Geti raved about how Jason’s wife, Kylie, wanted to leave a souvenir after hosting them.
‘Our bar has a bit of a tradition,’ Geti told PEOPLE. ‘Everything you see on the walls has been donated by people over time, so it’s like a collection of other people’s junk that proudly hangs in our bar.’
‘One thing that has happened over time is people will take American dollar bills and write messages in Sharpies and stick them all over the venue,’ he added.
‘As Jason and Kylie were getting ready to leave, she was like: ‘Jason give me a bill, I want to write a message and leave it behind.’ And Jason said: ‘All I’ve got is a 100,’ so Jason takes out a 100 and she says: ‘Okay fine I’m writing on a 100 then, that’s what we’re doing.’ The message was, ‘F*** Dallas, Go Birds and Go Cabrini,’ where she went to college.’
She insisted on standing on a chair and pinning it at the highest part of the venue herself and I just kept thinking, ‘Please don’t fall,’ Riley continued. ‘She said: ‘If you’re worried about liability just look away!’
‘She’s so cool, very down to earth,’ he added.
Geti opened Passyunk in 2018 after seeing the lack of dive bars in London. The bar also features a replica of the mummer costume worn by Jason during the Eagles’ victory parade in 2018.
The item was set next to the former Eagles center during the podcast with a collection of friendship bracelets he gathered at Swift’s show the night before.
‘They were sat in front of him like a trophy,’ Riley said laughing.
‘We really had to keep it under wraps that they were going to be here, but a few people worked it out,’ she continues. ‘It was quite surreal. They’re just really funny together. The second they start talking they’re amusing each other, and Travis said it had been like that since they were kids.’
Furthermore, Geti praised the NFL stars’ humility, saying: ‘They’re just really grounded dudes.’
